More child pageants planned despite row

Organisers of a US-themed child beauty pageant have signalled their intention to stage up to four more in Ireland next year — despite suffering a backlash from a number of angry parents just hours before their first-ever Irish event at the weekend.

Plans by Texas-based Universal Royalty to host last Saturday’s pageant had been thrown into chaos when a sudden cancellation by the management of their first-choice hotel cast doubt over whether the event would go ahead.

Pageant chiefs were then forced to scramble across the country to locate an alternative venue, which they only managed to confirm late on Friday night.